Massachusetts Social Security Disability Lawyers Blog
Filing for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits in Boston is a notoriously tedious process, which is why you won’t find many people doing it out of anything but necessity. 
However, there are situations in which an applicant’s health is likely to deteriorate far more rapidly than the average applicant. In these cases, unlike most others, a diagnosis alone is basis enough for receiving benefits. In turn, the Social Security Administration fast-tracks these applications as part of the Compassionate Allowance program.
In these cases, submission of the proper paperwork to the correct location in a timely manner is still essential, which is why hiring an SSDI attorney is highly recommended. The difference is if you have a condition on the Compassionate Allowance list, you can expect to receive benefits a lot sooner – in some cases within just 20 days.
And now, the SSA has announced it is adding 25 new conditions to the Compassionate Allowance list, bringing the total number to 200. (Thirty-five new conditions had last been added to the list in December 2012.)
Those conditions are:
- Angiosarcoma
- Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor
- Chronic Idiopathic Intestinal Pseudo Obstruction
- Coffin-Lowry Syndrome
- Esthesioneuroblastoma
- Giant Axonal Neuropathy
- Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson Syndrome
- Intracranial Hemangiopericytoma
- Joubert Syndrome
- Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis
- Liposarcoma-metastatic or recurrent
- Malignant Ectomesenchymoma
- Malignant Renal Rhabdoid Tumor
- Marshall-Smith Syndrome
- Oligodendroglioma Brain Tumor, Grade III
- Pallister-Killian Syndrome
- Progressive Bulbar Palsy
- Prostate Cancer, hormone refractory disease or with visceral metastases
- Revesz Syndrome
- Seckel Syndrome
- Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome
- Small Cell Cancer of the Thymus
- Soft Tissue Sarcoma with distant metastases or recurren
- X-Linked Lymphoproliferative Disease
- X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy
Each of these conditions is considered relatively rare, but extremely serious. Some are genetic conditions apparent at birth, while others are developed much later in life.To offer some descriptions of just a few:
Angiosarcoma is a cancer of the inner lining of blood vessels. It can reveal itself in any area of the body, though it’s typically seen in the skin, breast, liver, spleen and deep tissue. Unfortunately, most patients aren’t diagnosed with the condition until it has spread throughout the body, meaning that there tends to be a poor prognosis.
Intracranial hemangiopericytoma is a rare form of brain cancer that has a median survival rate of about six years, though some patients have been known to live as long as 18 with early diagnosis and surgery.
Progressive bulbar palsy is a type of atrophy of the brain stem that affects a person’s ability to swallow, speak and chew. Individuals diagnosed with this condition are at increased risk of choking and aspiration pneumonia. Early symptoms of the condition include uncontrollable outbursts of laughing or crying.
Small cell cancer of the thymus involves a type of aggressive cancer that attacks the thymus, a key organ of the immune system. The prognosis for these patients is grim, with median survival rates ranging from 8 to 20 months.
No matter what your condition, if you have questions about how to pursue an SSDI application in Boston, contact us today.
If you are considering filing for SSDI in Massachusetts, call for a free and confidential appointment at (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
SSDI offers rapid decisions for more conditions, Jan. 23, 2014, By Allison Bell, LifeHealthPro.com
More Blog Entries:
Mays v. Colvin – Disproving Ability to Do Sedentary Work, Jan. 23, 2014, Boston Social Security Disability Insurance Attorney Blog